Web fanfolding mechanism



May 1, 1965 A. F. RODRIGUES WEB FANFOLDING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed July 2, 1962 INVENTOR. ANTHONY E POOR/ GU55 ATTORNEYS 6Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

A. F. RODRIGUES WEB FANFOLDING MECHANISM ANTHONY F RODR/GUES May 11,1965 Filed July 2, 1962 A 7TORNE VS y 11, 1965 A. F. RODRIGUES 3,182,991

WEB FANFOLDING MECHANISM Filed July 2, 1962 a Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.ANT/101V) liODAlGl/E.

A 7' TO/PNEVS May 11, 1965 A. F. RODRIGUES WEB FANFOLDING MECHANISM 6Sheets-Sheet 4 hw ww Filed July 2, 1962 May 11, 1965 A. F. RODRIGUES I3,182,991

was FANFOLDING MECHANISM e Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 2. 1962 IN VEN TOR.ANTHONY E RODR/GUES w wbx A 7'TO/PNE VS 2 A. F. RODRIGUES WEB FANFOLDINGMECHANISM May 11, 1965 Filed July 2. 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR.ANTHO F RODRIGUES ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,182,991 WEBFANFOLDING MECHANISM Anthony F. Rodrigues, Los Gatos, Calif, assignor toCycle Equipment Company Filed July 2, 1962, Ser. No. 206,942 7 (Ilaims.(Cl. 270-73) The present invention relates to tape receiving means orfanfolding mechanisms for tape such .as perforated paper tape, forexample, and is concerned more particularly with fanfolding mechanism ofcompact constructionto enable reduced size of the machine.

. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved fanfoldingmechanism.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improvedfanfolding mechanism, in which a blade can be used either as a foldingblade or as a tucking blade to enable the halving of the size of thefolding mechanism.

Still another object of the invention is to provide tapereceiving meanshaving a tape-responsive control arm movable in either direction fromits normal inactive position to eifect a control of the machine, andassociated therewith control means producing an invariable control inthe machine irrespective of the direction of the movement of the'controlarm.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tape control arm whichcan be set to the desired adjusted position on its supporting axis inaccordance with the desired positionof feed of the tape to the controlarm.

The above and other objects of the invention are at- 7 3,182,991Patented May 71 l, 1965 r Ice cated by the arrow to move the fanfoldedtape from the region of the folding drums.

' The respective folding drums 21 and 22 are similar but are assembledin left hand and right hand .fashion so that only one of these drumswill be described in detail. The drum 22 includes a bottom wall 31, acentral boss 32 in which is press-fitted a shaft 33 carrying a pinion34at its upper end. Each druin also includes a cylindrical side wall 36which has an annular groove formed therein at 37. A boss 38 at oneportion of the periphery serves to connect the upper part of the surface36 to the lower 1 and 6).

tained as set forth in the accompanying specification,

taken in connection with the attached drawings, in which:

FIGfl is a plan view of a fanfolding machine;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the fanfolding machine, withcertain parts shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view illustrating the foldingdrums and their associated mechanism;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken in planes'indicatedby the line 44 in FIG, 3;

FIG. 5 is a detail sectional view taken as indicated by the line 55 inFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken as indicated by the line 6-6in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6'but showing other operating positionsof the linkage means;

FIGS. 8 through 10 are schematic views illustrating the operation of oneof the blades as a folding blade and the other of the blades as atucking blade;

FIGS. 11 through 12 are schematic views similar to FIGS. 8 through' 10but illustrating thereversed operation of the blades.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, the fanfolding machine includes acasting comprising the body or frame of the machine and the housing, andon this housing there is mounted a pair of folding drums 21 and 22,-described in detail hereinafter, which operate'with respect to papertape 23 fed over a control arm 24 to fanfold this tape and to deliver itto a receiving surface 26 which forms part of the removable ordetachable tray 28. The bottom wall 26'of this tray is apertured orslotted to admit two conveyor belts 27 which are carried by respectivesets of sheaves 29 which are suitably driven in a direction indi-Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 4, each folding drum "includes a' foldingblade which is operative either as a trucking blade or a folding bladeon alternate revolutions of the drum so thatvwitheach revolution orcyclethe character of operation of this blade changes and suitablecontrol means are provided for effecting this function.

Referring to FIG. 3, drum 22 has a bell crank 5 1, one end 52 of whichis formed as a blade cooperating with the folding surface 41 of thedrum, and the other end of which is formed as a U shaped body portion53. 'The bell crank 51 is pivotally mounted byapin 54 on the lever 56whose other end is pivotally mounted at 57 in the mounting strap 58secured torespective bosses 59 and 61 of the drumf The movable pivotpin54 carries an upper cam follower roller 62, and a lower or second camfollower roller 63 is journaled at the end of the U-shaped body portion53 of the bell crank 51 and depends therefrom to engage a stationary cam64 secured against rota tion by one or more pins 66 in the frame.

Also, each shaft 33 (FIG. 4) is journaled at its bottom in a bearing 67in the frame, and at its top by a bearing 68 in a bracket 69 secured inspaced relation from the frame by'means of a'pair of posts 71 (FIG. 2),.This cover or bracket 69 has a cylindrical recess 76 which is offsetfrom the axis of the shaft 33 and has seated therein a bearing 77carrying-an internal gear 78 having acam or stop projection 79 dependingtherefrom. This inter nal gear 73 meshes with the. pinion 34 on theshaft 33 and is in the ratio of l to 2 so that the gear 78 and the camprojection 79 will turn-once for each two revolutions of the shaft 33.The bell crank 51 is urged counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 3 by aspring 81 tension'ed between the bell crank and associated'drum 22 asviewed to the left of FIG. 3, and this spring tends to urgethe bellcrank 51 counter-clockwise and also. to cause it to left hand drum ofFIG. 3, and to position the tape be:

3 tween the folding surface 41 and the folding blade in the oppositedrum.

From the above description, it will be seen that in alternate cycles orrevolutions of this tape control means or folding means, each bell crank51 and its blade 52 is alternately controlled to be either the tuckingblade or the folding blade.

Means are provided for stripping tape from a drum after the foldingoperation, and this means comprises a stripping blade 86 (FIG. 3)projecting into the slot 37 of the associated drum. The fanfolded tape23 then is fed out onto the table 26 and into engagement with the feedbelts 27 to cause it to accumulate in the tray 28. The sharpness of thefolds is exaggerated in FIG. 1.

To open the drums, means is provided to mount one of these drums forinward and outward movement with respect to the other, and for thispurpose, as seen in FIG. 4, the right hand drum 21 has its shaft 33journalled in an eccentric bushing 91 carried by a control disk 92 whichis adjustable between two positions to bring the drums together or toseparate them, and this control disk 92 has associated therewith amanually operable clamping notch 93.

The sequence of the folding operations is shown in FIGS. 8 through 12,and from a study of these views, it will be seen that beginning withFIG. 8 the upper blade 52 is projected by its cam 79 and the lower blade52 is opened as 'a folding blade so that the tape is introduced betweenthe lower blade 52 and its associated folding surface 42 by the upperblade 52, and subsequently the folding is effected. As rotation of thedrums continues, in FIGS. 11 and 12, it is seen that the blades reversetheir functions and the upper blade 52 becomes the folding blade and thelower blade 52 becomes the tucking blade.

As noted above, the tape receiving means of the instant invention is aslave machine, and operates to fold the tape only when tape is availableand stops operation when tape is not available. In order to receive thetape advantageously from any direction, control arm 24 (FIGS. 1, 2 and5) comprises a rod 106 carrying an upright shaft 107 on which a roller108 is mounted in conjunction with a spring-type tape retainer 109. Therod 106 is releasably received in a sleeve .111 and has its inner endnotched to embrace shaft 113. Sleeve 111 is clamped by a nut 112 and maybe released so that the shaft 106 is positioned in any desired angularposition on the shaft 113 pivoted in the frame 20.

At its lower end the shaft 113 (FIGS. 1, 6 and 7) carries a controlsegment or lever 117 having two links 118 pivoted about respective axes119 which are symmetrically arranged with respect to the shaft 113. Eachof the levers 118 has a slot 121 at its other end which is engaged witha pin 122 at the end of a switch control lever 123 pivoted at 124. Theopposite end of the lever 123 is urged counter-clockwise by a spring 126and is slotted at 127 to engage the control arm 128 of a conventionaltwo-position set switch 129 for the motor 48. Thus in either directionof the movement of the control arm 24, as seen for example in FIG. 7,the rocking of the segment lever 117 in either direction will producethe same invariable movement of the switch lever 123 so that the powercontrol lever 123 enables the source of power invariably irrespective ofthe direction of movement of the control arm 24. In this way the tapecan be placed over the roller 108 extending either from the top side orthe bottom side of the view. In this way, when the tape becomes taut,and the fanfolding drums continue to feed the tape, the control arm 24will be moved to position the switch 129 in its off position. When tapeis available and the spring 126 serves to return the arm 24 to itscentral position, the switch will again be flipped from its off positionto its on position.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is apparent that the invention is 4 capable of variationand modification from the forms shown so that its scope should belimited only by the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim:

1. In a fanfolding machine for tape such as perforated paper tape, aframe, a pair of folding means mounted for movement on said frame,including a folding blade in each folding means and a folding surfacecooperatively related to said folding blade, means for operating saidfolding means in cyclic fashion, control means for the blade of eachfanfolding means for opening and closing said blade with respect to theassociated folding surface during one cycle of its operation as afolding blade, and other control means for said blade to cause saidblade to project in the next succeeding cycle to tuck the tape withrespect to the blade and the associated surface of the other foldingmeans, whereby corresponding blades of said pair of folding meansoperate alternately with respect to'each other as tucking blades andfolding blades.

2. In a fanfolding machine for tape such as perforated paper tape, aframe, a pair of folding means mounted for movement on said frame,including a folding blade in each folding means and a folding surfacecooperatively related to said folding blade, means for operating saidfolding means in cyclic fashion, means for carrying the blade of eachfanfolding means through one endless path and for opening said blade andfor closing said blade with respect to the associated folding surfaceduring one cycle of its operation as a folding blade, other means forvarying the path of said blade to cause said blade to project in thenext succeeding cycle to tuck the tape with respect to the blade and theassociated folding surface of the other folding means, wherebycorresponding blades of said pair of folding means operate alternatelywith respect to each other as tucking blades and folding blades.

3. In a fanfolding mechanism for fan folding paper tape such asperforated paper, a pair of folding drums mounted about parallel axes onsaid frame and having surfaces in substantial engagement to effectfeeding of the tape therethrough, each of said drums including a foldingsurface, a combined folding and tucking blade movably mounted on each ofsaid drums for cooperation with the folding surface and thecorresponding blade of the other drum, control means for effectingoperation of the blade of one of said drums during one rotation or cycleas a folding blade to open said blade with respect to the associatedfolding surface, and another control means operative to control saidblade during the next succeeding rotation or cycle to cause operation ofsaid blade as a tucking blade to move into the space between the otherfolding blade and its associated folding surface.

4. In a fanfolding mechanism as recited in claim 3, in which said firstcontrol means includes spring means normally operative to control theoperation of the blade as a folding blade, and cam means automaticallybrought into play during every other cycle or rotation of said drum tooverride the control of said spring means and to cause operation of saidblade as a tucking blade.

5. In a fanfolding mechanism as recited in claim 3, in which said firstcontrol means includes means normally operative tocontrol the operationof the blade as a folding blade, and means automatically brought intoplay during every other cycle or rotation of said drum to override thecontrol of said control means and. to cause operation of said blade'as atucking blade.

6. In a fanfolding mechanism or machine as recited in claim 3, in whichsaid fanfolding blade is formed as a bell crank, means pivotallymounting said bell crank at an intermediate portion thereof including alever pivotally mounted on the associated drum, a first control rollercoaxial with said pivotal axis, and a second control roller at the endof said bell crank remote from said blade, a stationary cam forcooperating with said second roller to control with said spring thefolding operation, and a rotatable cam means driven in synchronizationwith said drum at a ratio of 1 to 2 in cooperation with said firstroller to cause projection of said blade as a tucking blade.

7. In a fanfolding mechanism or machine as recited in claim 2, in whichsaid fanfolding blade is formed as a bell crank, means pivotallymounting said bell crank at an intermediate portion thereof including alever pivot- I ally mounted on the associated drum, a control roller 1to 2 in cooperation with said first roller to cause projec tion of saidblade as a tucking blade.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 691,751 1/02Cumming 27 0-73 860,004 7/07 Windle 22611 2,468,254 4/49 Delove 270732,819,068 1/58 Loase 270-73 2,896,944 7 07 Windle 226-1 1 2,981,540 4/61Harless 27077 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A FANFOLDING MACHINE FOR TAPE SUCH AS PERFORATED PAPER TAPE, AFRAME, A PAIR OF FOLDING MEANS MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT ON SAID FRAME,INCLUDING A FOLDING BLADE IN EACH FOLDING MEANS AND A FOLDING SURFACECOOPERATIVELY RELATED TO SAID FOLDING BLADE, MEANS FOR OPERATING SAIDFOLDING MEANS IN CYCLIC FASHION, CONTROL MEANS FOR THE BLADE OF EACHFANFOLDING MEANS FOR OPENING AND CLOSING SAID BLADE WITH RESPECT TO THEASSOCIATED FOLDING SURFACE DURING ONE CYCLE OF ITS OPERATION AS AFOLDING BLADE, AND OTHER CONTROL MEANS FOR SAID BLADE TO CAUSE SAIDBLADE TO PROJECT IN THE NEXT SUCCEEDING CYCLE TO TUCK THE TAPE WITHRESPECT TO THE BLADE AND THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE OF THE OTHER FOLDINGMEANS, WHEREBY CORRESPONDING BLADES OF SAID PAIR OF FOLDING MEANSOPERATE ALTERNATELY WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER AS TUCKING BLADES ANDFOLDING BLADES.